The Surprise
by HurricaneWhip
Summary: When Hope moves in with Lightning, Lightning comes across a surprise among his belongings.
1. Part I

This one-shot was inspired by a short doujinshi made about Lightning and Hope. I found it fairly humorous and eventually found myself thinking of a different approach to the scenario. Quite a bit has been changed, and after a lot of thinking, I'm finally writing it up, hoping to make at least half an impact as that simple comic made to me.

**The Surprise**

The fight had been over for several months and the unexpected settlement of Cocoon citizens on Gran Pulse had been progressing steadily. Free from their l'Cie marks, Hope and Lightning had decided to aid the NORA members in rebuilding a new village just below their crystallized form of their former home. The creation of homes had been priority, but with most people happily settled in, the crew had begun working on building various stores and restaurants, with a new café for Lebreau currently in production.

Lebreau had been exacting on her design and it had taken the group more time than they had anticipated to build, but the finishing touches on their soon-to-be new hangout was nearly complete. Lightning would've preferred to complete the work that day, but the sun had been setting and she had to accept that it would have to be finished after a night's rest. And she wasn't going to admit this to anybody else, but she could use a break since the work had been non-stop and the day had been long.

Lightning put down the drill she had been using and looked over to the dishevelled boy beside her. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he hammered in a nail with a steady rhythm and she noticed small beads of sweat fall down the sides of his face, stopped by his signature green bandanna. A small smile crept its way up her mouth. Hope had also been working non-stop since he had arrived to help out a few hours ago, speaking to no one except to ask for more supplies on occassion.

Breaking him out of his focus, Lightning spoke up as she prepared to leave for the night. "Hope, have you finished moving in yet?"

Startled, Hope inwardly flinched as his hammer just narrowly missed his thumb as he swung it a final time. That would've hurt. "N-no, sorry. I'll bring in the rest tomorrow. I know we're getting close to finishing this place so I wanted to be here. But, I did bring most of it."

Light nodded with understanding. She had doubts anyone would mind if Hope hadn't come that day (Snow hadn't bothered to make an appearance that day, the soldier had noted with slight annoyance), but she wasn't going to argue. "Alright. I'm heading home now, if you'd like to come. I'll start making dinner."

Glancing at Lightning before resuming his work, Hope shook his head. "Sorry, Light. I want to finish this up first. I'll head over later."

"I'll keep your dinner warm, then." Nodding to the various NORA members who had planned to stay later into the night, Lightning headed out the door and walked the short route to her new home. As she approached, she noted that her door had remained unlocked. _Hope must have forgotten to lock the door..._she assumed, a bit surprised that the boy would be so irresponsible. It didn't seem like him to forget something so important.

Flicking a light switch on, she noted all the boxes lined up against a wall to a door that would be Hope's bedroom. Hope had been living with Snow and Serah since they had all awakened from their crystal stasis, but the two's wedding preparations were finally coming to a close and the date was steadily approaching. Feeling like he'd be intruding on the couple's start of a new family, Hope had decided to move out. When he had first approached the woman, she had hesitated and was about to refuse when Hope seemed to anticipate her answer and apologized before saying he'd just have to get a home of his own. That had caught her off guard and Lightning agreed to let him live with her. The thought of Hope living alone worried her, and she found that concern justified when she discovered her door unlocked. Lightning had made the right decision.

In the kitchen, Lightning spotted a curious brown paper bag sitting on the counter. "Did Hope buy some groceries?" she asked herself. She had insisted that it was unnecessary, since she had stocked up on food a few days before in preparation of the new occupant. Amused, she was reminded of a conversation with Serah she had while shopping together. "Hope is very helpful around the house, Light, so don't worry about doing any more chores. You might have a bigger problem trying to prevent him from doing all the work!" Serah had laughed. "You know this is the first time I have managed to do the shopping myself? Hope insisted on handling it the entire time." Lightning had nodded at this new information, wondering if he knew how to cook too. While she didn't need help with the rest of the chores, she would have no complaints if someone else took over the kitchen.

Sighing to herself, Lightning approached the bag, ready to put away the excess food when she stopped, upon discovery of the actual contents. It wasn't groceries, but comic books. Lightning never took Hope as a boy who liked to read those types of things, but she guessed wrong. With this new discovery and the unlocked door incident, Light knew the two would learn quite a bit more about each other in the near future.

Lightning picked up the bag to bring it over to the rest of Hope's belongings when curiosity got the better of her and she found herself putting it back down so she could have a better look at the contents. This lack of self-restraint slightly embarrassed her and went against her training as a soldier, but she justified it by telling herself it's just for research purposes. Perhaps as a gift she could get him a subscription to one of these things. But she would have to know what type of comics he liked first.

"_Big Sister Complex – Super Edition!_? What's that?" Lightning said aloud, perplexed by the title. The cover didn't seem to answer her question as much as she had liked, featuring a big-chested, scantily clad, red-haired woman on the cover, lying on her side in such a way that her way-to-short mini-skirt hitched up even higher on her legs and to complete the look, one finger was to her mouth with her tongue lightly licking it. She didn't know what a 'big sister complex' was, but she knew what that look was supposed to suggest and she didn't like it. Despite her better judgement, she opened the comic, flicking through the contents.

Thirty minutes later, Lightning had decided she had enough. _ Were all his comic books like this?_ She wondered, going through the bag and pulling out volume after volume. _Big Sister Complex – Holiday Edition_, _Sexy Older Sister_ volumes 1-5, _Forbidden Liaisons_, and even more _Big Sister_ volumes all sat within the bag, waiting to be read and 'appreciated'. Lightning felt her cheeks heat up.

This was all Hope read, she was sure of it. There was no other genre within these books, all the stories were about the different scenarios of how the adorable younger brother and the sexy older sister found themselves in compromising situations. And liked it. Serah had told Lightning that she didn't actually want Hope to leave, but he had insisted on it. Were these books the reason why?

Her entire face red, Lightning quickly put the books back where she found them and headed off to her room. She was too embarrassed to eat now, and just wanted to go to sleep and perhaps forget about what she had discovered. Lightning felt fortunate when she found herself dozing off, despite her mind racing with all the images she had seen.

"...ight? Light?" A voice called out to her. Opening her eyes slightly, and slightly growling that she had been woken up in the middle of the night, a figure stood beside her, his own pillow in hand. His wild shock of white hair seemed even more out of place than usual, perhaps from bedhead, but Lightning couldn't be too sure. "Hope?" she mumbled.

"Light...do you...mind if I sleep with you tonight? I thought I heard something outside..." he whispered, his eyes wide and his lips trembling. He clutched the pillow closer to himself, as though a shield.

Lightning's initial reaction was to tell him to grow up and to handle his worries himself. She had taught him better than to act so weak. But as she looked at his quivering lips and his eyes full of fear, she felt compassion for the boy. "Yeah..." she said, moving over on her bed to give him room.

With a grateful smile, he climbed into bed and under the sheets with the older woman and before she could resist, he held her close, his face resting in her breasts. "Thanks, Light..." he murmured his breath softly tickling the skin beneath her shirt. "You always make me feel so safe..."

Somewhere in Lightning's mind, she enjoyed the feeling of his breath and his body against her. It felt warm, but not uncomfortably so, and she wanted to continue lying with him in this fashion. But the part of her mind that kept itself planted firmly in reality told her to push him away. She struggled with the inner conflict of keeping him close and keeping him at bay for a few moments before finally giving in to the part she knew was right. Shaking the sleeping boy awake, Lightning whispered, "Hope, if you want to stay in my bed tonight you can't be so close. If you can't do that, you're going to have to go back to your own room."

Not moving his head from his current position, he lazily mumbled back, "Why Light?" Stifling a shudder from the sudden rush or warm air from his mouth, she gently shoved him back and forced him to look directly into her eyes. "I don't need a reason. This is my home, I make the rules.

"Light...I'm sorry. I understand." Hope responded, his eyes and voice not betraying how crushed he felt. Despite knowing she was in the right, Lightning couldn't help but feel guilty. His eyes looked like they were tearing up, and his soft lips had begun trembling again like they had been when he had been spooked into going into her room earlier.

"No...I'm sorry. I overreacted. I actually don't mind," she said aloud without thinking. As if to encourage him, she opened up her arms and let him curl back up into the same position they had been in before. Hope smiled once again and she felt relieved.

The boy draped his arms around her back and she enjoyed the feeling of one of his hands slowly gliding up and down her back while the other slide up the skin of her stomach, under her shirt. She gasped softly as she felt his breath against the skin on her back. Lightnin had no idea when she managed to edge his way up there but she didn't question it. "Do you like this, Light?" he asked her in a low voice.

She nodded slowly and found herself face-to-face with the green-eyed boy her lips just mere centimetres apart from his own. Hope inched in even closer and Lightning shut her eyes, concentrating on the feel of the stealthy hands that had made their way to her chest his hands cupping them softly and willing them to start playing with her breasts.

"No, Hope, what are you doing?" Lightning yelled, dropping the copy of _Big Sister Complex – Super Edition! _To the ground. Light looked around, her heart pounding against her chest, her face warm and flushed. She wasn't in her bed, and she wasn't even in her own bedroom. She was still in the kitchen, and night hadn't even arrived yet.

Lightning threw the book into the bag in humiliation. She had just imagined story three "_Nightmares No More_", with herself and Hope as the new main characters. The shame was great. No wonder Hope had such thoughts. These books could really get to a person. "I can't believe I would even think about such things with him."

Dazing off again, the woman once again found herself shouting to no one, "Hope, not right now, everyone's watching us!"

* * *

Hope, meanwhile, had finally completed the table he had been working on since he had arrived at the construction site. This was the last set of tables needed to complete the café seating arrangements and he wanted to finish it that night so it could get a coat of varnish with the rest tomorrow. Wiping his forehead with his bandanna, Hope nodded in satisfaction. "Great, I can head home now."

"Get there before Sis for me, will ya? I was over at LIght's place earlier and forgot to lock the door. She'll kill me if she finds out," Snow said playfully ruffling the younger boy's head, having arrived just mere moments earlier.

Shaking off the large hand still in his hair, Hope ignored the statement. "Why bother coming here now when we're done for the night?"

"Hey, I've been busy with wedding stuff, you know. We've put it off long enough." Snow replied easily.

"So what's with the detours?"

Smirking to himself, Snow lowered his voice and put his hand on Hope's shoulder so only the younger boy could hear him. "I went over to Sis's to give you a welcoming gift. Figured you'd like to have a present to help you adjust with your new living arrangement. Just don't let Sis see them."


	2. Part II

Originally just a one-shot, Alpha T. Sigma lit the plot bunny in me as I lay in bed, sick from a head cold, bored out of my mind and unable to sleep. So here I am, typing this up to pass the time. A part of this was going to be the ending of what is now 'part 1' near the ending, but I was unable to think of a way to incorporate into the story well enough so it was cut out. However, with this second chapter and change of point of view, I feel I'm able to expand it and end the story well.

Once again, thanks to Alpha T. Sigma for inspiring this second part of the story and I hope you all enjoy. :3

* * *

**The Surprise – Part II**

"Huh?" Hope asked, perplexed. He didn't know what else he could possibly say to the older man, who still held him over the shoulder, filled with a smirk that seemed to say "_You know what I'm talking about_". Too bad the silver-haired youngster didn't have a clue.

A look of disbelief replaced the sinister-looking grin, before quickly returning to its rightful place on the face of the blond-haired fighter. "Oh you know what I mean," Snow laughed, straightening himself out as he began nonchalantly walking around the current workshop patting the backs of his fellow NORA members and admiring each of their work. To Hope, it felt like he was buying time, as if he was trying to find the right words to continue. Confirming his suspicions, Snow gradually returned to his side and finally saying in a hushed tone grin still plastered to his face, "I saw the books you were reading at my place, so I bought you some of your own that I thought you'd appreciate more."

The combination of the look Snow was giving him with that knowing smile, and his statement just beaming full of confidence was too much for the younger boy and despite still not quite understanding what was going on (but suspicion starting to light up in his mind), Hope felt his face heat up just slightly. Before Snow could act on this clear opening to start (or continue?) teasing, Hope shot back "What's wrong with trying to read more about the history between Pulse and Cocoon?"

Which was true. He had spent the better part of his spare time these past few weeks reading everything he could about the quarreling two sides of their world. But the only texts he could find belonged to Cocoon's side and any archives from Pulse had been so badly destroyed over hundreds of years spent unprotected that Hope had been unable to glean much of anything from them. Hope silently prayed that was what Snow had been talking about.

Unfortunately, Snow skeptically replied, "That's not what I caught you reading last week."

And with that statement, Hope's already rose-tinted face became a shade deeper. He had forgotten about last week. Or rather, he had busied himself enough to lock that embarrassing memory away. He didn't _want_ to remember, but Snow didn't have any intentions on letting him forget and he felt the memories of that shameful night return to the front of his mind.

Serah, sharing Hope's interest in history, had allowed him to look at her history books and so Hope had spent many days reading in the spare room which had become a small library. The particular day in question Hope had been spending the night relaxing in that very room after a long day of the usual construction work.

He had just finished another one of Cocoon's historical records about the War of Transgression, and Hope had written down a few pages in his trusty notepad for future reference. If he _could_ find a book of Pulse origin in good condition, he wanted to be able to compare the two for differences with ease. Recording down pages and titles would speed up the process of searching for them later.

With a yawn and a quick stretch of the arms, Hope took a passing glance at the electric clock hanging on the wall. It was well past midnight, and the young former l'Cie knew he had another long day ahead of him, but Hope could not bring himself to tuck into bed just yet. Getting up from the comfy chair he had just spent hours in, he started pacing around the room weighing his options.

Serah, despite her generally sweet and upbeat personality, had a side to her personality not unlike the older of the two Farron sisters. Hope himself had learned this the hard way when she found him sprawled on the chair one morning, open book on the floor, his grip loosening as the boy had fallen into a deep slumber through the night. Quick to realize Hope had fallen asleep in the room, Serah had abruptly woken him up and jumped into a near hour long lecture to him about how foolish he was being, her azure eyes blazing with an intensity he had never expected to see from her, instantly quieting any protests her charge was trying to come up with. When all was said and done, Serah had threatened to revoke Hope's privileges into the library if he fell asleep in there again.

So now Hope was torn. He wanted to read a bit more, but he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of not being able to step foot into the room again. Not to mention another dose of a "Serah Lecture" as Snow had laughingly called it. Taking one last glance at one of the bookshelves mid-yawn, he decided to compromise. Hope had to admit he _was _tired, but he also wanted to start another book. However, he hadn't decided which one he was going to start after the last, so making the decision would be his compromise: decide on a title, then go to bed. Maybe skim through the pages really quickly to make sure he was still reading about the War of Transgression. Maybe read a page or two. Maybe even a chapter if he read he it quick enough.

And with that, Hope marched the short distance to the last bookshelf he had yet to explore, rapidly scanning the titles, hoping to find one that would pop out at him first. But none of them grabbed his attention. In fact, they didn't even seem to be of the same genre as the others. There were sports books, various books on cats (Hope had to do a double-take on that one), and what seemed to be various record /strategy books for NORA before they all edged themselves into graphic novel territory. Looking at all the evidence, determined he had stumbled upon Snow's personal bookshelf. He had no idea how he hadn't noticed it before, but he had discovered it now. Too bad he didn't share many of Snow's interests.

Sighing to himself, Hope was about to give up and head off to bed when something caught his eye. On the bottom shelf amongst was an anomaly - a navy-colored, leather set of books stood proudly between the paperbacks as if beckoning Hope to read them. Kneeling to get a closer look, he read the a few of the titles when one caught his eye: _The History of the Hanging Edge._

Hope smiled. He had found a diamond in the rough. Taking the book out and standing up, Hope started flipping through the pages ready to scan for some key words that would show involvement in the war. But instead, he found himself staring at yet another graphic novel. And graphic it was. His young eyes caught the women all throwing themselves at (or on) the main characters if they weren't already busy throwing off their clothing. His face heating up, Hope slammed the novel closed. The leather hardcover was a phoney cover-up to hide the contents!

Ready to shove the book back among what Hope was sure to be similar contents on the bottom shelf, he did a double-take. He wasn't _actually_ sure he saw what he thought he saw, right? Yeah, no way. He must've imagined it. Hope would have to make sure that he saw what he thought he saw. Scanning the room quickly to ensure that he was really alone in the room, he opened the graphic novel again and starting reading the contents. The real cover to the comic said 18+, and while Hope was still only 14, he had to admit he was curious.

All was well for awhile until Hope was startled out of the fourth short story when he heard someone clear their voice across the room. Looking up meekly, his face already redder than the tomato salad they all had as part of dinner that night, Hope found himself staring into the all-knowing gaze of the older man he had been living harmoniously with those past few months. Leaning against the wall near the door and arms crossed, the silence between the two seemed to last forever in Hope's mind, but he was sure it was only mere seconds before Snow finally spoke up, "You've got good taste. That's my favorite one."

To this very day, Hope still couldn't remember what happened to the graphic novel in hand. He didn't remember dropping it, he didn't remember shoving it back in the shelf, he didn't remember passing it off to Snow. All he remembered was running from that room in humiliation, desperate to escape. He hadn't said anything, he just ran. The boy had been terrified the next day about the jokes or the lecture or the 'man-to-man' talk he was sure to endure but it never came. Instead, Snow had gone about his day and the rest of the week acting as if the situation had never happened and Hope was more than happy to play along.

Eventually, the consequences of that night had to come back to haunt him, and they finally did, just not in the way Hope had been expecting. "It wasn't like I was looking for it, I-I just happened to find it!" the boy clumsily explained.

Laughing, Snow waved him off. "Hey, hey it's normal alright? I really don't care how you found it. I just figured you'd want some of your own to 'read' during downtime. And books more your style to suit your situation."

Hope silently wished that a hole would open up beneath him and swallow him whole. When a few moments had passed by and it became obvious the laws of physics were not going to bend in his favor anytime soon, he finally spoke up. "Well, I hope you hid that stuff where Lightning won't find it. She went home awhile ago."

Snow visibly paled. "Oh uh...I put it in a place you'd find easily. In a paper bag in the kitchen. Maybe if she didn't look inside it...aha ha..." Turning around in a bid for a fast escape, Snow added "Well, I gotta go, can't keep Serah waiting! Tell me how you like them tomorrow!" And with that, Snow ran off knowing full well what fate he had possibly led his young friend to.

Watching the retreating figure, Hope let off one last retort, "You know Serah's going to find your books one day!" knowing Snow either couldn't hear or didn't care. He sighed as he prepared himself to head home and face the inevitably embarrassing music. He slowly walked to his new home, his feet dragging along in an attempt to stop him. If Snow had put the 'present' by Hope's other belongings, there would have been a chance Lightning would not have come across it. But in the middle of the kitchen? Staring at the ground, he started mumbling excuses to himself looking for one that would come out halfway plausible.

As he edged closer to the home, Hope found his mind wander and dive into the hope he was named for. Lightning wasn't the type to go snooping into other people's property, so she may not have even gone through it. Or maybe Snow didn't put the bag on the kitchen but amongst his belongings so Lightning wouldn't have noticed it at all. He just _thought _he did. Or better yet, Snow actually bought him history books instead of the...genre...he was caught glancing at that night. It was all just a misunderstanding, Snow was just joking around like Snow likes to do, and really just bought him some history books telling him it was something else to make it a real surprise! Hope was worrying for nothing.

And the Behemoth King just wanted to be friends.

Sighing once again, Hope looked up to find himself just footsteps away from the driveway of his new home. As he was about to convince himself to make one more short walk around the block before finally entering the home, something on the driveway caught his eye. A black mass of _something _lay on the new pavement. Approaching the suspicious mass, Hope felt a wave of heat hit him and it intensified as he edged closer. It smelled like something had been burning. The black mass must have been the charred remains of something. Looking closely, Hope noticed a faint red glow. It had been on fire just recently, he surmised. Checking the remains once more, he also recognized the bound side of a book. It was his first red flag. He couldn't identify what type of book it used to be, but it didn't take a genius to come up with a few guesses.

Bracing himself, Hope stepped through the front door, not quite knowing what to expect, hoping his mentor was not in the room, hoping she had not seen the contents of Snow's 'gift', hoping that was really some _other _book that ended up a charred mess for whatever reason he did not know. But he knew his silent wishes would not be answered, just like every other one had been ignored for the past week.

And of course, there stood Lightning, her back to Hope her ears a bright shade of red, very clearly frozen in place indicating she had heard him step into their shared residence. Red flag number two. "H-hi, Light..." he said aloud, breaking the silence.

Still refusing to look his way, the strawberry-blonde haired soldier raced her way to her bedroom. "Sorry, Hope. I tried to make dinner but things got out of hand and I burned it and accidentally burned some other things. I think some of it was yours, since I didn't recognize it and it was too late to save it when it caught fire. I apologize. Well, night." Slamming the door behind her, the younger housemate knew the mere glimpse of a furiously blushing Lightning would be all he'd see for the rest of the night.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hope felt the screams of 'Red flag number 3' sirening off, warning him that it was all over, but he still looked around for the target paper bag hoping beyond hope that it actually hadn't been set aflame. Maybe, just maybe, the stars had aligned and a miracle had happened.

Alas, it was not meant to be, as Hope could not find the culprit of this massive misunderstanding. It was nowhere to be found. And with that, no doubt remained: Snow had unintentionally embarrassed him to the one person he looked up to unconditionally.

What a way to start off as roommates.

* * *

Well, what started off as the second part of two of something that was originally just supposed to be a one-shot has now bloomed into a short story. There is going to be a third chapter.


	3. Part III

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay, this last chapter took far longer to write than I had anticipated, especially coupled with enjoying the scary outdoors. (I ventured outside and lived to tell the tale!) And then I just couldn't find a way to approach this chapter that I liked. So again, I'm very, very sorry for taking so long to finish this. Fair warning: This chapter has quite a few run on sentences and even repetition but they are intentional.

**The Surprise – Part III**

Sleep did not come kindly to Lightning Farron. In fact, it would be far more accurate to say she did not get to sleep at all. The moment her head hit the pillow she had hoped to fall asleep quickly and just forget everything that had happened that evening. But the woman should have known better than to expect to get what she wanted.

Varying thoughts tore through her mind, most of them unwanted. At first she tried to ignore it all and tightly shut her eyes, her desire to see any and all images go away and leave her alone great. However, it soon became clear that she would not be able to get rest until she spent _some_ time dealing with the situation at hand. As much as Lightning wished it, you couldn't get rid of all of your problems with fire like she had with Hope's ill-chosen genre of novels.

Staring at the ceiling of her room, she decided to start with the book burning. Ashamedly, Lightning had to admit she handled that situation rather poorly. No, that was understating it. Lightning, a woman of 21 years had freaked out at seeing a young boy's collection of pornography. And, unable to deal with the images she had in her _own _head, she decided to burn the books. As if burning the books would hide the embarrassment she had felt. As if burning the books would somehow erase the images that enjoyed popping up in the back of her mind when she least expected it. Setting the collection ablaze had done nothing to help the situation, it only worsened it.

The charred remains would have to be cleaned. Light had wanted to start the clean up as soon as the fire had burnt itself out and cooled down, but Hope had returned earlier than she expected. In her panicked state, she ran off in a desperate escape to avoid hearing the explanations, giving the explanations and the inevitable embarrassment to both parties. She could not decide who should be more upset by the whole situation, her or Hope. Probably Hope. It was his own property that Lightning had gone through without his permission and had gone so far as to destroy it.

Hope. The 14 year-old boy had become her greatest problem of all, even if it really wasn't his fault. He was growing up very quickly. Too quickly, for Lightning's tastes. And all boys his age had a natural curiosity about sex. She shouldn't have been too shocked to find something like that.

Lightning sighed uneasily. She would have to apologize for destroying some of his belongings and probably replace them too. The former was easier to deal with than the latter. She thought of a few different scenarios of this little shopping trip and none of them seemed to end well. Lightning could either purchase them by herself, which would probably raise some eyebrows at the store cash register or she could bring Hope along to help distinguish the specific comics that she had destroyed. But again, that would surely end with more than a few eyebrows raised during purchasing. Or she could try to convince him to try out a different genre. That would involve an uncomfortable conversation but there would be no audience members joining in the spectacle.

The last option was the most appealing to the woman, so she sat up in bed and nodded to herself. There was going to be quite a few embarrassing conversations the following day, another one would just have to queue up and wait its turn. Lightning would try to steer him away from this elder sister complex that he seemed to have. Maybe try to show him the other styles and genres of pornography available...Nope, that was a conversation bound to be way too awkward to begin no matter what approach she went with.

Hanging her head down low, Lightning once again bemoaned the situation she found herself in. It was all her fault. She should never have set fire to those graphic novels in the first place, she should have put them back where she found them and pretended to know nothing. Better yet, she should never have let her curiosity get the better of her in the first place and left the contents of the bag alone. Even if she could never appreciate his tastes, it was really none of her business. Probably.

Glaring at the sunlight beginning to peak its way into her room, Lightning got up from her bed and walked over to her closet to grab some clothes. She would speak to Hope as soon as she saw him to apologize and clear up this whole mess.

* * *

Hope entered the café to find the temporary workshop devoid of fellow builders, which he found unusual. Even though it was still early into the morning, there would usually be one or two people to be found getting some extra work done. It was strange, but not unwelcome.

He glared at the wooden chairs and tables in front of him, thinking. He might be able to get two coats done in one day if started right then and there. Any downtime would allow him to work on something else. Originally he planned to finish moving the rest of his items over to Lightning's home that day, but Hope decided to put that on the back burner for now. If anything, he might have to start moving his stuff right back to his previous residence.

"I should get started," Hope mumbled to himself, heading towards the backroom where all the building supplies were stored. Maybe with some time alone he could think up a way to apologize to Lightning. Or prepare himself for punishment.

Just as he entered the backroom to begin his search, Hope heard the front doors opening, followed by heavy footsteps. _There goes my peace and quiet..._

"So there you are," a brash voice laughed, shattering the silence that Hope had enjoyed for all too brief a time. "I wanted to say sorry for running off on you like I did yesterday."

Hope turned around to look up at his jovial companion. "You don't sound sorry," he shot back bitterly.

"Heh," Snow shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "I was kinda hoping things went okay back at your new place."

Hope grumbled as he recalled his encounter with the charred remains and Lightning's hasty retreat for the night. Okay was not the word he would use. "When I got there all I found were burned leftovers on the driveway. What do you think?"

Apparently Snow found this statement extremely funny because the next sound to erupt into the room began as an undignified snort before blowing up into full-blown chortling. "She did...what?" Snow gasped in between laughs.

"She lit them on fire," Hope deadpanned before returning his attention to finding the supplies he'd need for the day. "And then Light ran off to her room. I haven't seen or spoken to her since."

Patting Hope's back in support, Snow let out another short laugh before his tone went serious. "Ah man, that sucks. But lighting them on fire, eh? That's a bit overboard..."

Hope nodded absently, half-acknowledging the absurdity of the action. It wasn't like Lightning to react that way. "Yeah, I dunno what it was, but it must've freaked her out."

Snow rubbed his chin for a moment. "Hmm...I guess I can see it." He grinned mischievously. "Heh, maybe the subject matter hit Sis a bit too close for home for her liking."

"What do you mean?" Hope asked alarmed. He didn't care much for this conversation in the first place, and that smirk on Snow's face didn't quite help things. Something wasn't sitting right with this whole situation. "W-what exactly did you get?"

Despite thinking it not possible, Hope watched as Snow's grin grew even wider. "Oh, nothing special really. Just bought you some of the _Big Sister Complex_ series for you since I figured it'd be right up your alley."

Hope was stunned and found him speechless for a moment. But it soon passed. "You wh-"

"So it was _you_!"A furious voice exclaimed.

The two whirled around in a panic and found themselves just a mere few feet away from one of their topics of discussion. "L-Light?" Hope managed to cry out, panicked.

Lightning stomped her way towards the duo, her right hand already clenched into a fist. "You are going to pay for this!"

It took all of a split second for Lightning to close the distance, but to Snow, it felt like an eternity. Her arm raised, ready for impact with its target, the flushed look on her face from a mixture of fury and embarrassment, the absolute look of ferocity that radiated from her aquamarine eyes contrasting with the exhausted look that must have originated from lack of sleep...Snow could see every detail. And despite the panic rising from the pit of his stomach, he couldn't help but laugh inwardly and victoriously. It had been the wrong target, but he still managed to hit a bulls eye.

As he felt the impact of the ruthless woman's crushing blow, and felt his body smack against the wall behind him and see his vision fade, Snow only had one thought:

_It was totally worth it._

* * *

**A/N**: Wow, this final chapter was much shorter than I thought it would be. I still find myself trying to get back into the swing of things with writing, so I do apologize if it felt choppy. But most of all, I hope you all enjoyed this little crack fic and thank you all for bothering to read it through to the end! :3


End file.
